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#575 Four Stars?
November 03, 2014, 12:00:16 pm
Four Stars?
3 November 2014, 11:45 am



Turn the amp up to 11, Scotland. The jingoistic pride of the SMC and Gary Latter demands that alleged superiority of climbing in Scotland is marked with one extra star compared to the rest of the still-United Kingdom. And who knows they may have a point, it's pretty good up here. Well of course it's pretty good down there too, no-one with half a brain will claim the best of Scotland is inherently better than the best of The Roaches, The Cromlech, Sharpnose etc. But one can agree with the accolade of 4 stars in theory....of course once such a thing exists, it's then there to be mis-used and inappropriated. A brief discussion with Tris and Stu on the concept of 4 stars turned from dismissal of the idea into skepticism of it's application, and further thought gave the following ideas:

New four stars:

Yir VS 4c, Ardnamurchan - Possibly the most perfect easy route i've done in Scotland. A great line, great location, and a full length of varied quality.

Whispering Crack E3 5c, Skye - astonishingly good line searing up a blank wall, with sustained climbing to match. As "must climb" as it gets.

Mother's Pride E4 5c, Skye - Wild, wonderfully positioned and shockingly easy for it's line, as good as jug-hauling gets.

Sarclet Pimpernel E0 5a, Caithness - An "esoteric" gem that laughs in the face of established classics with it's impeccable line above the sea, fascinating rock and delightful climbing.

Wall Of Flame E4 6a, Diabeg - Maybe a slightly personal choice but surely as good as slab climbing gets - like a quadruple size grit slab with holds and gear.

Brave New World E2 5c, Diabeg - Undeniably perfect, a grand line in a beautiful location, solid safe jug-hauling with the crux right at the top.

Arial E3 5c, Loch Maree Crag - If Spirit Air deserves it's 4 stars then so does this. As good and sustained as wall climbing gets, a day's climbing packed into one route.

The Fuhrer E4 5c, Creag Dubh - The Great Wall at Creag Dubh is 4 stars in itself and this route balances out the usual boldness with exceptional quality, with 3 distinct sections of individual excellence.

Pump Up The Jam V5, Skye - The best jamming in Scotland, without question.

Spanking The Monkey V6, Cambusbarron - The best slabby arete climbing in Scotland, without question.

Gale Force V7, Laggan - A stunning line, with continuous technical, powerful and committing climbing above a good landing.

Brin Done Before V5, Brin Rock - Geometrically irresistable, a definitive old skool E4 6b style highball.

Justified four stars:

The Pillar E2 5b, Diabeg - A stunning sheet of rock with the perfect balance of sustainedness and boldness. Any idiot who waffles on about it being one gets 2 stars maximum.

Monkey Man E3 5c, Sheigra - Dominating, brutal and butch, that gives the Second Geo veteran something meatier to aspire to.

(Grey Panther E1 5b, Skye ) - Stunning line and clearly a stunning climb.

Rat Race E4 6a, Dunkeld - In one pitch, a fantastically meaty and varied pitch, with a bit of everything and a lot of challenge.

The Hill Direct E2 5b, Creag Dubh - The plum line of the fantastic Great Wall, epitomising it's perfect bold jug-pulling. As good as soloing a Ratho F6b!

Romancing The Stone F6c+, The Camel - Why Scottish sport-climbing is far more than lapping Cave Crag routes. Classic conglomerate and perfectly named.

Storm HVS 5a, Glen Nevis - Seems the perfect mid-grade cragging experience, with great climbing and good rock.

Freak Out E4 6a, Glen Coe - A much better climb than I was a climber. Surely the dramatic South East nose is visible from space, and this line is the pick of the crag.

Not four stars:

Acrimonious Acrobat E0 5b, Ardmair - Good. But simply not that good.

The Bug E2 5b, Tollie Crag - Definitely 3 stars, but doesn't quite have the fly-on-the-wall experience of The Pillar.

Bloodlust Direct E2 5b, Sheigra - The worst E2 on the Second Geo wall, a direct finish to better lines with the crux fiddling in cams.

Afterglow E2 5b, Rosehearty - A fine line and elegant introduction to Rosey, but pokey to start and quite short.

(Spaced Out Rockers E4 5c, Reiff ) - Okay it's a great line, but it goes the wrong way!

Marlene F7c, Dunkeld - Painful and not a classic line of weakness.

Silk Purse F7c+, Dunkeld - Ditto.

Over The Hill E3 5c, Creag Dubh - More direct, but fiddly moves that spoil the balance of The Hill.



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#576 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 01:06:33 pm
2/27. Not bad considering I've spent far too little time north of the (internal) border.

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#577 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 01:54:54 pm
I don't know what the actual list of official ones is, maybe if I get really bored I'll write them out....or maybe not.

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#578 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 02:09:00 pm
Well, your list is rather obviously missing things you can't walk to (I assume), Carn Dearg, Shelter Stone, Benn Eighe being the obvious contenders.

I still have the old Howett Scottish Selected Climbs; am deliberately not buying the two volume Gary Latter until I actually have definite travel plans, partner lined up etc., because otherwise I'd do nothing but sit staring at it and sighing longingly.

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#579 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 02:25:32 pm
You would indeed! His guides might be a little bit biased and a little bit inaccurate but boy a guide full of photo-topos is so inspiring.

I do know he's got a 4 star Moderate ridge traverse on the outskirts of the Cuillin :)

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#580 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 02:29:28 pm
You would indeed! His guides might be a little bit biased and a little bit inaccurate but boy a guide full of photo-topos is so inspiring.

I do know he's got a 4 star Moderate ridge traverse on the outskirts of the Cuillin :)

Sgurr Dubh Mhor Slabs  I presume. Absolutely fantastic, best easy rock route in the UK.

If not the world. (Although I admit there are some fine looking granite slabs in the 5.3 - 5.4ish range in Tuolumne that might also be contenders)

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#581 Re:  fiendblog
November 03, 2014, 04:32:14 pm
Dubhs ridge is well weapon.

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#582 Hard Grit, Protectable Grit
November 07, 2014, 12:00:26 pm
Hard Grit, Protectable Grit
7 November 2014, 11:31 am



Something that may be of use for the talented outsider looking to get an gritstone experience without resorting to truly dangerous routes or even worse the humiliation of headpointing. Most of these should be safe to onsight but they do assume all the usual tricks of the trade i.e. your mate abbing and cleaning it, skill placing a variety of gear, running belayers, coping with long falls etc etc. The list is cribbed from guesswork, 2nd hand information, guidebook descriptions, and some feedback in this thread. It's designed to give a good authentic gritstone experience with plenty of slopers, smears, rounded aretes, blank slabs, brutal cracks etc (so no quarried grit), on routes that should be in good condition (so not much esoteric stuff). Have fun.

Yorkshire:

Giggling Crack E6 6c ***

- Offwidth nearly climbed by Joe Brown in 1950s

The Bottom Line E7 6c **

- Steep rounded and thrutchy

Megadoom E5 6b **

- Wild hanging prow

The Great Flake E6 6b ***

- Technical steep blunt flake

Desert Island Arete E6 6c ***

- Big burly arete

Milky Way E6 6b ***

- Relentless steep crack

Fast Forward E6 6c ***

- Steep rounded and thrutchy

Staffordshire:

Barriers In Time E6 6b ***

- Definitive friction arete above good pro

Northern Comfort E6 6c **

- Hard reachy moves with massive fallout zone

Thing On A Spring E6 7a ***

- Hard reachy cranky with good falloutzone

Against The Grain E6 7a ***

- Ditto

Painted Rumour E6 6a ***

- Huge roof with lying down rest and cunning gear

Counterstroke To Equity E5 6c *

- Smooth slab above good pro

Nature Trail E5 6b **

- Ditto

Master Of Reality E6 6c ***

- Stunning gritstone tufa above good pro

National Acrobat E6 6c ***

- Very safe gruelling thrutch

Ray's Roof E6 6c ***

- Offwidth roof crack

Peak District:

Stanage:

The Crypt Trip E6 6b ***

- Lots of fiddly pro wall climb

Flight Of Ideas E6 7a ***

- Mega arete above good pro

Pete's Arete L of FOI E6 6c **

- Ditto but easier

Scapa Flow E6 6c **

- can't remember

Carpe Diem E6 6c **

- can't remember

The 9 O'Clock Watershed E6 6c **

- Technical prow above good pro

Master Of Disguise E6 6c **

- Burly bulge pulling

Little Women E7 7a **

- can't remember

Groove Is In The Heart E7 7a **

- can't remember

Sad Amongst Friends E6 7a ***

- Steep gruelling mantle

Warmlove E6 7a *

- Ditto but worse

Burbage-Rivelin-Bamford:

Balance It is E7 6c ***

- Mega arete with good fallout zone and possible RP

Life Assurance E6 6b *

- Steep slab needs running belayer

Offspring E5 6b ***

- Face climbing in space

Lost World E6 6c **

- Safe reachy pebble undercutting

Pulsar Direct E6 6b **

- Very steep burly wall

Linkline E6 6c ***

- Ditto

Moolah E5 6b **

- Thin face cranking

New Mediterranean E5 6c **

- Ditto

Trout E6 6b ***

- Definitive grit slab above great gear

Salmon Direct E6 6c ***

- Ditto

Salmon E7 6c ***

- Ditto

Smoked Salmon E7 7a ***

- Ditto.....down from 7b...

Froggat-Curbar-Gardoms:

The Screaming Dream E7 7a **

- Short, steep, and very hard

Beau Geste E7 6c ***

- Hanging arete, safe with cunning

Epiphany E6 6b **

- Bold to start but safe arete above

Crack And Slab E6 6c *

- Hard crack, reachy slab, good pro

Mensa E6 6b **

- Arete with enough pro

Slab And Crack E7 6b ***

- Highball start, crucial RPs above

Rigid Digit E5 6b **

- Tricky groove climbing.

Janus E6 6b ***

- Ditto but more so, great line

Moonshine E5 6b ***

- Bulging rounded thin crack

Gardoms-Cratcliffe-Black Rocks:

Mickey Finn E6 6b ***

- Burly roofs, may need a clean.

Spanish Fly E6 6c **

- Burlier roof, pre-placed good RP at this grade

Perfect Day E5 6b ***

- Steep rounded wall above great pro

Make it Snappy E6 6b ***

- Safe enough arete

Reticent Mass Murderer E5 6b **

- Brutal thin crack

Genocide E6 6c **

- Sheer reachy wall above good pro

Kaluza Klein E7 6c ***

- Classic arete needs jumping belayer

Discombobulator E5 6c **

- Thin cranky wall

Untoward E5 6b **

- Techy arete

Camel Hot E6 6b **

- Steep arete with decent gear

There may be more...



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#583 Re:  fiendblog
November 07, 2014, 01:17:24 pm
Hard Grit, Protectable Grit
7 November 2014, 11:31 am

The Bottom Line E7 6c **

- Steep rounded and thrutchy


Looked like the thread was missing from this last time I was there. I don't know whether the thread itself has broken or it just needs some new tat.

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#584 Whinging trad fanny...
November 08, 2014, 06:00:20 pm
Whinging trad fanny...
8 November 2014, 3:03 pm



It's now past the year anniversary of the successful resolution of The Great Ratho Retrobolting Farce, in which the fine result of removing most of the retro-bolts and highlighting the quality trad and clearing up the quarry vied for prominence with highlighting the idiocy of some of the myopic sport climbing fanatics. An amusing contrast came from people who claim to like both trad and sport - as if that's justification for retrobolting!? - but doing the bare minimum of trad climbing presumably only when Dunkeld and Dumby are a bit too warm, whilst at the same time equally deluded members of the pro-retro-bolting faction were dismissing pro-balance / pro-consultation climbers as, and I quote, "whinging trad fannies". I'm trying to recall anyone I know on the side of the common sense as being a pure trad climber doing just the bare minimum of sport, and I'm struggling. Big Bob who was just off to Sardinia, warming up for his F8a plans at Costa Blanca in Easter?? Jamie Sparkes who bolted Balgone Heughs and the quarry opposite Ratho (aptly showing the potential without retro-bolting)?? Hmmmm...

As for myself. Well, here's the Scottish sport (and mixed) crags THIS particularly "whinging trad fanny" has climbed at:

The Camel

Brin Rock

Moy Rock

Creag Bheag

Creag An Amalaidh

Creag Nan Cadhag

Creag Nan Luch

Goat Crag

Glutton Crag

Glen Ogle Sunnyside

Glen Ogle Darkside

Ardvorlich

Dunira

Comrie Crag

Strathyre

Bennybeg

Rockdust

Dunkeld

Cambus O May

Red Wall Quarry

Boltsheugh

The Keel

Legaston Quarry

Ley Quarry

Balmashanner

Rob's Reed

Kirrie Hill

Elephant Rock

Arbroath

North Berwick Law

Ratho Quarry

Dunglas

Dumbarton

Balgone Heughs

Dumbuck

So, about that line of argument that our side didn't understand Scottish sport climbing and the need for it's development again................???



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#585 More trad fannying...
November 15, 2014, 12:00:23 am
More trad fannying...
14 November 2014, 9:36 pm



Someone was asking what I'd been up to recently, so here it is:

Dunkeld: Went to do some of the easier Extremes on the right, they were all seeping apart from Tombstone which is jolly good fun but I'd already done it. So Plan B was to climb up to the crux of High Performance, fiddle in loads of flared wires, pull up disconsolantly a few times and then take all the wires out and reverse comfortably to the ground, just like the previous 2 attempts. Something went wrong with this plan, I got hampered by some excellent cool conditions on the sparse dry rock and the after effects of a V5-flashing session at Ratho the previous day and forgot to downclimb and upclimbed instead after only a few tentative pulls. Still one of the harder moves I've done on trad and harder than two apparent 6b cruxes I've been on. Amusingly I have a sporadic climbing partner who claims it's "not hard for 6a". Even though she has been a classic under-performer and did it as her first English 6a lead before spending a spring in Spain and onsighting F7c (or maybe it was F7b+ I forget, anyway far harder than I've managed in 16+ years of pushing myself climbing), and basically wouldn't know an easy 6a move if it came up and bit her skinny strong arse.

Meikle Ross: Some guy on the interwebz had been posting pictures of him "climbing" Sunshine Superman as a headpoint with the gear in place (!) and upgrading it to E5 (!!) and somehow contrary to all that is decent and respectable people were actually praising this failure. I had to go down and correct this.....error, and despite being hampered by sweltering early November heat and being a hard E4 onsight, I did:





Quite rewarding as although it's eliminate to start it's brilliant to finish with some fierce steep slab moves around the overlap. My feet were killing after spending quite a while hanging around working out moves and getting in the right gear, but thankfully my spare comfy shoes were good enough for Corridors Of Power which was a bit primitive compared to the usual greywacke crimping delights:



All in all a very nice day down at the seaside...





Ardmair and Diabeg: Were the also down by the seaside (or close enough!) for the only other trip of note, a surprising post-match bonus up again around Wester Ross. Glorious weather stolen from the rest of the drizzly country, a last minute plan, a night in the Ledgowan Lodge bunkhouse sampling whiskies from the hotel, and conditions that were too warm for my plans at Ardmair and too warm for my plans at Diabeg but I pushed on through yet more foot-pain with the latter and managed Instant Muscle:







Not bad I guess although I am still mopping up my dribble in anticipation of using the two new epic Yorkshire Gritstone guides but someone needs to start mopping up the fucking drizzle first as the weather is pretty dreary across Scotland and even worse down there (surely that ain't right) so although the grit has been called it hasn't justified the drive down yet. I live in hope as it's what excites me most this winter - hurrah for new definitive guides (until I get sandbagged to fuckery and start moaning about them...;))



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#586 Re:  fiendblog
November 18, 2014, 08:21:16 am
Great pics, climbing and non-climbing

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#587 Re:  fiendblog
November 18, 2014, 06:26:23 pm
Thanks Chris. Credit goes to good autumn light, and my brother's Ricoh GXR with a great interval timer mode, that I nabbed off him - although the Meikle Ross scenery ones were with my old battered Sony HX5.

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#588 Re:  fiendblog
November 19, 2014, 10:24:07 am
I really like the two scenery ones. Interval timer is dead handy, used it when bouldering on my tod on the coast a few times.

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#589 Re:  fiendblog
November 19, 2014, 10:50:58 am
Yeah,Fiend excellent pics.Reminded me I've not been down there for 28 years.....shit,who knows where the time goes :ohmy:

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#590 Success??
November 27, 2014, 12:00:06 pm
Success??
27 November 2014, 11:09 am



A while ago I wrote about people claiming their "First E-whatever!" whilst actually failing on standard mid-grade routes, or rather pre-failing by not even trying to climb the route, instead avoiding it by headpointing / top-roping. I actually seemed to get some hysterical bleating in response, well at least I think I did, I gave up reading when there was the first whiff of the usual "but people can do what they want" waffle. Strange how some people put the effort in to get their knickers in a twist about something so common sensical, but then don't bother making any other comments on the positive stuff I write about Scottish climbs and scenery (at least a couple of people have noticed I post that too)... All very Daily Mail reader, but perhaps not so surprising. What was surprising was a friend who said he appreciated that particular blog as it made him think a bit about his climbing and his current temptation to headpoint a few routes, and that maybe he could resist that temptation for a while and find other ways to progress with his climbing.

Which got me thinking - I'd posted about the failure of headpointing mid-grade trade routes (which both posts apply to, NOT to new routes, cutting edge routes, esoteric early repeats etc), but not about how to avoid that failure, avoid that temptation in the first place - THAT could be something useful. So, some ideas on how not to pre-fail:

Firstly, the main reason for pre-failing:

"I think this route is too hard for me to climb now"
(Therefore I won't try to, I'll avoid climbing it by top-roping etc etc)

I'm sure most other reasons will boil down to that. In particular the kneejerk counter of "But it's just what they want to do" is immediately counter-countered by considering why one would "want" to headpoint etc: Because it's personally preferable to onsighting that route. Why? Because there must be something about the onsight that makes it less preferable, and that's almost certainly *some* difficulty with the onsight, meaning: "I think this route is too hard for me to climb now".

So taking that reason, one can break it down into overlapping constituent issues:

"I think" - perception / information.

"this route is too hard for me" - difficulty / ability.

"right now" - current situation.

And try some suggestions how to overcome those issues:

1. Gather as much information as possible.

No necessarily enough to spoil the experience, although a beta-flash is still a good effort. Sometimes the guidebook info is well researched and you can rely on it to know the route's challenge, but not always. If there is any doubt then check forums, ask for general information, speak to people who have done it. Find out the sort of information that would make an accurate guidebook description.

2. Inspect the route from as many natural angles as you can.

I.e. gather as much of your own information as possible. Look from the sides, look from the top, do adjacent routes. If there are sections that put you off onsighting, see if you can get a better look under your own steam.  

3. Get your partner to abseil down, clean and check it.

If the route really needs checked out or cleaned, then get your mate to do it (assuming they don't want to do the same route!). It's that simple! They can give it a thorough scrub and make sure the information is accurate. In all 3 information gathering options, the route will still have some essential mystery but there could be crucial hints so you KNOW rather than THINK about it's difficulty.

4. Analyse what the main difficulties are on the route and what abilities you would need to improve.

If the route is too hard, or you're simply not good enough to do it, work out why. Too bold? Too pumpy? Too technically hard? Etc. Rather than trying to avoid that real challenge, work out why it is tempting to avoid it, and what you would need to improve to actually tackle it.

5. Train towards the route(s).

Following from the above, actually put the effort to BE good enough to do the route. If you're looking at routes that you're not certain about onsighting, you should be wanting a challenge and you should be willing to improve and try hard to do so. Train physically and mentally to improve to meet that challenge.

6. Stack all the odds in your favour.

Use all the usual tips and tricks with optimal gear, chalk, shoes, clothes, belayer, warming-up, timing, weather, etc. Many small factors can add up to make a big enough difference to make the route feasible, so analyse all aspects of your preparation and logistics to make them optimal.

7. See if it is possible to engage with the route at all.

If it's a general challenge, see how far it is possible to climb up and downclimb. See if there is a ledge or good rest to get to to evaluate how feasible it is to continue. If it's bold or dangerous, see if there are any places with good protection, and how far past it you can go before either having to commit into danger or being able to fall safely. Even if the whole route seems too daunting it might be possible to start it, and maybe then finish it.

8. Be prepared to try and fail.

Failure is always a possibility, it's the risk associated with any challenge. But it's not a certainty unless you've already failed. Given a choice to try and fail, or fail by not even trying, choose the former. Once that's accepted, at least you can give it a go, it's better than giving up in the first place.

9. Heed conditions and choose the right time.

If the route seems to be too hard right now, maybe the timing is wrong. Some of the odds refuse to be stacked when you want them - weather and personal condition especially - so keep that in mind and be prepared to choose the right time. Learn the factors needed to make Plan A work....and have a Plan B too.

10. Take a longer view and save the route for the future.

The route will always be there and for most people the opportunity to try it properly will crop up again. Unless you're an OAP and about to permanently move abroad, there's no need to be impatient and not give yourself and the route a chance. You don't HAVE to headpoint the route now, see what you're capable of in a month or a year or a decade.

And if all else fails....just don't do it. There's always a choice. There's always the option to simply accept the route is too hard and walk away. There is no shame in that honesty and acceptance and respect for the route and respect for good style.

Apologies if any of this isn't as clear or as ethically strict as it should be, I've been trying to write this for ages and got bored of it. As usually, any complaints can be forwarded to The Department Of People Who Give A Shit, Somewhere Far Far Away, thanks.



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#591 The wrong side of the pebble.
December 05, 2014, 06:00:06 pm
The wrong side of the pebble.
5 December 2014, 2:38 pm



I think I have improved as a climber since living in Scotland. I have more experience, more mileage on a variety of rock-types, more knowledge of dealing with climbing outside of my comfort zone, more tricks and tactics to use, more confidence due to falling practise, more ability to crank through moves in lead, more awareness of climbing challenges and how to deal with them.

However. I'm not any taller and my skin isn't any less sweaty and I don't have any more ability to hit the ground and bounce rather than break.

So when I go back down to the gritstone and expect to apply all I've learnt and all I've improved at, it's not necessarily going to mean SHIT. Sure last winter I had a pretty good trip at exactly this time, but the luck-based scrittle is as fickle as it is frictional and rounded and success and confidence on one trip / day / route / move is no guarantee of the next. This was well demonstrated on our Stanage day when I spent longer on the single crux move of Count's Wall (HVS/E1) than I did on the entire route of Counterblast (E2/3). Rhyme or reason?? None at all. After a couple of sketchy days I did manage something cool that reminds why grit is worth persisting with, Thumper @ Eastby:

Still too warm despite being -2'C in the shade at the car.

Run out like a trout.

 Aside from that, this mini-trip was hampered by various things including too much driving, some poor route choices (morpho shite like Dracula) and some slightly poor conditions (thick clart on a first Eastby visit, dank top-outs at Crow Crag). So I've learnt a few things for next time:

  • Minimise driving around.
  • Be wary of under-climbed routes.
  • Have plenty of back-up routes at crag.
  • Have some technical warm-ups / problems.
  • Plenty of stuff to keep feet clean.
  • Long sling for quicker abseiling for gear.
  • Start earlier in the morning if possible.
  • More stretching.
  • Don't pick morpho routes.
The few glimmers of success and trusting smears have maintained the psyche to go back down as soon as possible too. If the weather allows. Despite being better than the West of Scotland, it doesn't always end up looking like this...(sorry I can't upload that photo here as Googles fucking disgracefully awful intrusive photo enhance shit utterly ruins it even if I pre-tweak the saturation down.)



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#592 Slipping it in.
December 22, 2014, 06:00:17 pm
Slipping it in.
22 December 2014, 12:54 pm



This winter season I've been inspired to focus on the gritstone, because there's lots of it, there's great new guides, I feel pretty confident after another decent trad year, and it should be a bit more feasible logistically than Scottish winter cragging.

There may be a high correlation between that decision and the weather being relentlessly cunting awful.

I think this is the worst start to the grit season I can ever recall. Sure there have been a few decent days - sandwiched between storms, showers, and continuous rain - and very rarely adjacent enough to warrant a trip down. My browser is getting worn out refreshing the Metoffice forecast for Skipton and Hathersage, although it is forecast to be glorious on Christmas Day. When I will be in London. Fucking arse!

Actually it's got to the stage of putting up with ludicrously inefficient and expensive single day trips down, albeit only as far as the most Northerly crags e.g. Slipstones.

So we headed down on a rare day of amazing conditions with the plan to warm-up gently, do some highballs and soloing and maybe the odd lead if it was warm enough, or some harder frictional bouldering if it was cold enough. It turns out that conditions were a bit too amazing and the wrong way round - the bouldering end was just sheltered enough to be warm, the routes end was just exposed enough to be bloody freezing. And I forgot that the sheer clean grit of Slippys was generally steep and the seemingly positive crimps were generally cruel on the fingertips. It's a beautiful grit there but a strange sort of grit. Still it was good fun and I got inspired for more action there, which might happen in 2018. No complaints about the beauty of the day though:





And that's that. I might be able to sneak something in around Christmas if the weather allows. Otherwise I will be furiously considering a trip abroad as soon as possible.



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#593 The year in numbers.
December 28, 2014, 06:00:22 pm
The year in numbers.
28 December 2014, 1:23 pm



Just because. This year I've mostly failed on exploration, trips away, and new venues, but I have done a good variety of Scottish and Northern England stuff, and maintained a fairly pleasing standard. The hardest things I've done in order:

Wheels Of Fire E4 6a *** (Bowderstone Crag)

Exquisite wall-climbing with wild reachy slapping way out from gear. Exhilarating.

Masterspy E4 6a *** (Wilton 1)

Action packed sketching with two hard cruxes. Rewarding.

Thelonius E4/5 6a/b *** (Mungasdale)

A long term ambition over several visits. Wonderful climb with a very hard bouldery start and great jug-hauling above.

First Of Class E4 6a ** (Far Hill Crag)

Really good, bold committing face climbing that I really had to go for it on.

Strangeways E4 6b ** (Reiff)

Great climbing with positive cranking, the crux is placing gear without blocking holds, I outwitted that by placing a wire that fell out as I went passed it!

Boxed E4 6a *** (Mull)

More great positive cranking, really good steep climb that I had to use all my reserves of determination on.

Scorched Earth E4 6a * (Burnt Crag)

Well-named on a hot Easter day. Wild and weird, squirming into a groove then leaping for a jug ledge in front of a some amused Lakes old-timers "did you see that? he fookin jumped for it! move of t'day, that!"

Sunshine Superman E4 6a * (Meikle Ross)

Fiercely thin greywacke slabbing with a very precarious crux. Very cool even if my feet didn't forgive me until the next day.

Inquisition E4 6a *** (Reecastle)

Typically brilliant Reecastle face climbing, two cruxes, one bold and one wild and goey. Maybe ran it out a bit too much, but lovely route.

Instant Muscle E4 6a ** (Diabeg)

Good but surprisingly hard slab climbed on a beautiful November day. Had to really go for it.

Ambalite E4 6a ** (Iron Crag)

Marble Staircase's scarier twin, still delectable but even bolder and more intricate. Good headgames!

Wee One E4 6a * (Glen Nevis)

 (Up from E3). Fierce and continuous bouldering to an on/off final crux. 6m of every move being 6a!

Snorting Quack E4 6a ** (Mull)

So many RPs to fiddle in, so little time. Not the usual Ardtun crack romp, quite intricate indeed.

Wet Pussy E4 6a ** (Craig Stirling)

Atypical Aberdeen schist - easy to protect and not a gruelling pumpfest, instead a technical delight with a very committing and thoughtful crux.

Mingy Metro E4 6a * (The Souter)

(Up from E3). Testing, brutally hard to place crucial RPs and sliders. Very good climbing though.

Marble Staircase E4 6a *** (Iron Crag)

Good value bold and committing wall-climbing. Delectable.

Dry Grasp E4 6a *** (Falcon Crag)

Fantastic wall-climbing in a fantastic position, postive cranking with with a bold start, switch brain off and bravery on.

Stand and Deliver E4 6a ** (Gruinard Crag)

(Down from E5 and steady for E4). Great face climbing high on the crag and quite amenable with a bit of go for it.

The Smouldering E4 6a * (Glen Coe)

A hidden gem with a steady but thin crux and a lonely wall above. Quite similar to many Lakes climbs I did.

Edge Of Insanity E4 5c ** (Glen Croe)

Never has a ladder of jugs felt so committing or exposed! Easy once you've done it, but space-walking.

Fever Pitch E4 6a ** (Dumbarton)

Also fairly easy once you've done it, but it doesn't feel like it looking down at the RPs beneath your feet after the goey crux! A grand line and a great trad feel.

Clementine Variant E4 6a ** (Dome Butress)

Outwitting the filthy and lethal central section with a small detour, but still technical and elegant low down and scary high up. An underrated crag.

Lorelei  E4 5c ** (Loch Tollaidh)

Another beautiful slab. Reasonably steady, reasonably protected, consistently great climbing on great rock.

Velvet Glove E4 6a *** (Limekilns)

Neil said it was easy, I didn't believe him and pretended it was hard, until I just did it the easy way. Less of a crack thrash, more of a fun jug romp.

Thumper E4 5c *** (Eastby)

Quintessential E4 5c head-games. Delicate crux at 10m, good gear at 5m. Classic!

Frustration E4 5c *** (Glen Shian)

(Down from E5 and steady at E4). Beautiful climb up a beautiful slab. As good as bold crimpy slabs get!

Armalite E4 5c ** (Raven Crag)

A weaving romp up a nice wall. Full of surprisingly good holds and unsurprisingly good moves. Really pleasant.

Noble Savage E4 5c ** (Ardmair)

Felt rather scary as an E3 warm-up, worth it's upgrade. Okay but not the usual Ardmair calibre.

~{§}~

And the hardest things I haven't done, in order:

Pockets Of Excellence E5 6a ** (Glen Croe)

A bit damp, a bit unclimbed, a bit fucking hard and blind. Did the first crux to the big and wet pocket, then no idea above.

Run From Home E5 6b * (Glen Nevis)

Nails razor-crimping past one BD 0 offset? Ran out of psyche for that.

??? E5 6a *** (North Yorks)

Fierce crack, good but hard, bad conditions, bad wrist.

Blade Runner Direct E4 6a *** (Auchinstarry)

Did all the hard/bold climbing on the direct (which is easier than the higher crux of the original), did the higher crux and fell of the final tricky bit I'd done before as part of Nijinski. Too warm weather but still ARSE!

The Pugilist Dir E4 6a *** (Floor's Craig)

Climbing was piss easy and very good. Placing the crux cam was horrible and desperate. Waste of good moves.

~{§}~

A few things I can note about this list:

  • A lot of the harder routes I've done have been really solid at the grade, maybe half of them in total, and few are regarded as the upper limit.
  • I've done a couple of so-called 6bs on lead and they have felt like 6a.
  • I've done quite a lot in the Lakes and despite the Lakes reputation for hard grades, the routes have been spread very equally through the list.
  • Out of all those hardest routes, almost all of them have been really enjoyable and satisfying, with only a very few being not quite pleasurable enough (Mingy Metro awkward gear), Clementine Variant (dirty), Noble Savage (pokey)).
That's all for now.



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#594 Resolve.
January 08, 2015, 06:00:21 pm
Resolve.
8 January 2015, 5:38 pm



Thankfully my New Year's resolutions don't include timely and prompt blog updates. Actually, they don't include much of interest but it's useful for me to write them down as a reference. Possibly like last year, I've learnt as much from what I've been doing right as from I've been doing wrong or not doing - some of these are of the "keep doing this, it works" ilk. Others are common sense. If only I could apply that more regularly.

Have many more trips abroad.

- Really missed out on this last year, I feel undernourished for exploration and new venues! Hell I'd even take Euro-limestone at the moment.

Climb South of the border.

- I've done enough in  Scotland and don't have many inspirations left apart from a few odds and  sods. I enjoyed getting back down last year, so I'm getting more psyche  for other stuff around the UK: More on the grit in winter, and more in  Mid-Wales, South West, and North Wales come spring and summer.

Keep training throughout the year - wall, gym, active rest.

-  This has worked well for me, I haven't noticed much climbing  improvement apart from a bit better core tension, but I have felt good  keeping up with the training and I'm sure the benefits are there.

Do more stretching.

-  The one bit of training I don't really do apart from in between  warm-ups at the bouldering wall. I should do more as I'm sure I could  benefit from it, injury-prevention and flexibility-wise.

Try falling practise on gear outdoors.

- I'm now feeling  generally comfortable with regular falling practise indoors, but I  still feel a bit wary outdoors. Not due to the protection situation, but  more the variety of fall zones and fall directions. I think practising a  bit outdoors could help translate that comfort and give me more  confidence.

Get going earlier in the morning.

- I'm rubbish at this, and it means I end up rushing around and/or missing out on good climbing days. I just need to get started earlier.

Start more trips in the evening to be ready the next day.

- Similar to above. I struggle to motivate myself for a long drive in the dark evenings, but it's more efficient and climbing-beneficial to get it out of the way then, get a decent night in a hostel and a decent start the next day.

Make clearer and firmer plans esp. with disorganised partners.

- I'm rubbish at organisation anyway, and need to improve on that in general, and try to make firmer plans even if I have to change or cancel them due to the weather, rather than waiting to see what happens and then not making any plans. I need to do this even more so with some good partners who are a bit haphazard too!

So there we go. Simple and fairly mundane - unlike actually putting them into practice. But I'll try...



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#595 A Grit Game
January 09, 2015, 06:00:05 pm
A Grit Game
9 January 2015, 2:00 pm



So let's play a game Fiend. The purpose is simple, the concept is simple. Winning the game....may be difficult.

Purpose: To do some really cool grit climbs I'd have been intimidated by before....by trying to apply the confidence and experience I've gained in Scotland to the gritstone, and thus seeing how well I've improved generally.

Concept: Climb more Peaks/Yorks grit E3s/E4s/6as in 2 seasons (2013/14 & 2014/15) than I did in 8 years living in Sheffield.

Calculations:

(N.B. I've changed a few grades to reflect reality...)

2001-2009:

9 E4s (The Brush Off, The Knock, Moonwalk, Calvary, The Strangler, The Phantom, Pillar Of Judgement, Acid Drop, Demon Rib)

29 E3s (Big Greeny, The Flakes, Fat Chance, Hallmark, Jelly Ache, Boothill, Ignis Fatuus, Exit, Party Animal, Reprieve, Down To Earth, The Crocodile, Waterloo Sunset, Impossible Slab, In Off, Wall End Slab Direct, Ashes, Parallel Piped, Charm, Iron Road, Ascent Of Man, San Melas, The Swan, Chalkstorm, Apaloosa Sunset, Crystal Voyager, Autumn Wall (not E4, steady for E3), Gypfast (ditto), Jetrunner (ditto))

9 6as (The Knock, Moonwalk, Calvary, Big Greeny,  Jelly Ache, Down To Earth, Ascent Of Man, Crystal Voyager, Jetrunner)

(not counting: 3 E3s 94-97 (Long Johns Slab, Great Slab, High Flyer))

2013-2015:

3 E4s (Stanleyville, Constipation, Thumper)

7 E3s (Four Pebble Slab, The Beautician (not E4, solid E3), DIY, Lazy Day, Hunky Dory, Sinister Rib, Weaver's Wall)

3 6as (Constipation, DIY, Lazy Day)

Which means I have to do:

6 E4s

22 E3s

6 6as

...in maybe 4 months...


In my favour:

- Almost all my recent forays on gritstone have given me confidence and I seem to be able to rattle off routes fairly rapidly.

- With everything now clearly documented in great definitive guides, there are literally hundreds of routes that inspire me, covering every style and climatic condition.

- Even when the weather gets warmer, there are still many exposed / shady venues that have inspiring routes.

- I don't have much inspiring me elsewhere in the country so can focus well on this idea.

- Many places I want to visit are boring trade honeypots, so it should be easy to find people to climb with.

- Northumberland and grit bouldering is a good way to keep on the boil when the weather prevents a proper trip.

Stacked against me:

-- I now live 4 hours from the grit rather than 10 minutes.

-- So far in 2015 the weather seems to be utterly fucking abysmally atrocious.

As I say....a simple game....but maybe very hard to win....All the determination in the world counts for nothing with a forecast like this.

Hmmmm.



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#596 I can't believe it's not grit.
January 10, 2015, 06:00:07 pm
I can't believe it's not grit.
10 January 2015, 2:00 pm



And at any rate you wouldn't want to spread it on toast. My grit psyche is still high, almost as high as the winds, humidity, and rainfall probability which is preventing any trips South of the Wall. So as a plan B I went bouldering on the next best thing: Shaftoe in Northumberland, which is as grit as grit is, in fact more grit than some grit. Plus it's rather good despite being an epic gruelling slog down the A68 to get there. Anyway, the weather was great, we warmed up in the sun, did a few steeper problems in the breeze, then as the wind and cloud came over took advantage of truly perfect conditions in the ravine to finally do a previous nemesis problem, the frictional slimper delight of Smooth Wall:

from Fiend on Vimeo.

Stevie was getting some nice shots with his GoPro so here are a few of those (slightly fucked by Googles auto-photo-fucker of course):



Mmmmm slopers.

Prior to this and prior to 2015 appearing out of nowhere, I did actually get down to the grit grit, including amongst other places Almscliff, the most overrated crag in Yorkshire that people only go to because it's the quickest drying crag in the entire UK. I have a love/hate relationship with it: Some of the routes and problems are pretty cool, but the relentless hordes and unforgivable sin of giving the distinctly medicore arbitrary link-up semi-route Great Western 3 stars leave a disinterested taste in my maw. I also seem to end up there in slightly iffy weather due to having been drizzled off elsewhere, thus making the bouldering feel even grimmer than usual. On the other hand this was not the case the other week, when the weather was truly magnificent and the inspiration to rattle off a few short and thuggy routes was high. I didn't do anything that hard (Whisky Wall turning out to be a steady E2 with bomber gear without the spurious side-runners, but fun and unusually positive pocket-pulling), but I did get cranking pretty readily despite having a week off with a tweaky shoulder over Christmas.

Whisky Wall :

Clematis : Actually quite burly and good value.

 I was climbing with spragglerocks from UKC. She had an adorable  Labrador called Dexter who was the best-behaved crag dog I've met, so  here's some photos of him.



Before the Almscliff day I had a pre-match warm-up at the Hunter Stones. Jonboy, Cofe and Big Hands were there on the Hunter's Roof thing, Jon did with the customary power squeak. I did this nice V3 arete instead.





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#597 Plan B.(loc)
January 23, 2015, 12:00:24 am
Plan B.(loc)
22 January 2015, 10:39 pm



Apparently the weather is quite decent down in Peaks/Yorks at the moment - and it makes the snow dumped all over the crags look quite pretty. The gales forecast next week might wipe it away a bit with rain as well as wiping another week's chances of actually getting down there and climbing any grit.

Instead of sulking I've been errr sending. Or smashing, or whatever it is the kids of today do. Climbing small lumps of rocks above large stacks of pads anyway. Some of these lumps of rocks have been larger and some of the stacks of pads have felt smaller, too. And most of them have felt good training for technique, determination, and regular skin loss, as well as being rather fun...

Back Bowden:



Sheltering from the wind with Stevie. It was blowy as fuck man at Hazelrigg Wall and pretty mellow on the boulders beneath the Tube. I had lots of ideas and desires here and carefully timed them so I had 30 mins on each project, just enough to get demoralised and move onto the next with similarly no success. The only exceptions were Magic Leap - I hate dynos, this is a complete sandbag and totally misdescribed in the guide ("small but positive holds" - where? "crimp/sidepull" - what? "F6A+" - oh just shut up.), but it is also brilliant as it's not hurtling ineffectually on big holds but instead teetering and falling upwards on rubbish holds. Improbable and fun. The other exception was Mantle Underclass which was more like 30 attempts to failure rather than 30 mins. Still that was better than Mantle Masterclass which I can't imagine ever being possible for my physique. MU I could imagine doing after many hours effort, pretty standard for a F6B. Grades my sweaty RING.

Bowden:



Headed down with the McNair and a car full of chatty young things. God knows how we all crammed in but it saved me an hour of driving and meant there was adequate paddage for anything that was desired. Apart from poor Niall who we left on his own to crush some 7C/8As while we bimbled around. I laid Transformer to rest after discovering that I'd been previously trying the much harder RH version. Then spent about 20 goes being unable to lank Y Front Left-Hand (""6B+"") before doing Dog Eat Dog ("7A" going on steady 6C) in 3 goes. Grades my KNOBEND. The latter was pretty satisfying though especially for the amount of trad-style slapping and grinding at the top.

Craigdews:



A few years ago I walked to this sheer quarried wall in the Galloway hills and rapidly walked away, dismissing it as too high and too blank. It turns out is is the former but not the latter, as just recently some dude called Fletch put up a nu-skool classic 6C(!) highball. So we had to go and repeat it the next day after the first ascent. It delivers as much as it promises and makes Physical Graffiti at Dumby feel like a lowball ladder of crimps. I managed to scrape up it after some scary goes, but knocked a jutting finger nubbin off at the top, and left a slightly crumbly hold (the rest of the slab is immaculate), so will have to go back and stabilise that hold to keep it's classic status.

Carrock Fell:

N.B. I didn't manage this little horror yet, I'll be back...

Finally to ensure that all finger skin is suitable brutalised, we went on a little tour of Carrock. A few steady classics like Captain Kirk, Kit's Arete and Terrace Wall led us up to Stratosfear following the highball psyche, which turned out to be no match for the snowy slope on top of the problem, so we turned down the snowy slope back to the road and finished with a thorough burnout on Left Wall. This is eliminate, morpho, and a complete sandbag on vicious holds, yet somehow is intriguing and entertaining for all that grimness. I eventually found a cunning short person's sequence, caught the top jug, adjusted my hand and slipped off and never reached the lip again. CUNTFLAPS. I'll be back....I might be back into this bouldering malarkey...

(most photos from Mr Weir.)

The scenery has been quite nice in it's winter plumage too:







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#598 Fish out of water.
February 07, 2015, 12:00:18 am
Fish out of water.
6 February 2015, 6:55 pm



Bouldering is full of cunts. Even the most cursory glance will demonstrate this: old cunts who have a lifetime of climbing experience to make anything look effortless, young cunts who are slim fingered and supple and might as well be climbing ladders, dedicated bouldering cunts who live and breathe beastmakers and are thus annoyingly strong, non-dedicated cunts who have excelled in sport climbing or mountain marathons or suchlike and are thus annoyingly fit, local cunts who have done the problems a trillion times and could climb them backwards and blindfold, general skinny cunts including female skinny cunts, all of whom have 3/4 of your power but half your weight, lanky gangly skinny cunts who are all spider limbs, tiny midget skinny cunts who are all sinew and tendon, sandbagging cunts who usually end up writing the guides, sharking cunts who make your project look easy because they are literally climbing double the V-grade. Cunts the lot of them.

Clearly I am none of the above. I am quite good at fiddling nuts in cracks (and equally quite good at arranging and optimising pads, although this only makes the moves easier a tiny percentage of the time), and quite good at exploring and finding off-piste inspiration. Thus I often feel like a fish out of water when dabbling in this game - "what, you wanted me to cram my fingers into that tiny ragged slot and crank a fucking mile to some gash sloper? Dafuck! Can't I just twist some offset wires into the slot and yard up the jugs next to it?".

Despite that I do actually like bouldering a lot and sometimes do it a lot. I am actually a boulderer (and therefore, I suppose, a cunt), because when I do it I like it so much, I'm just a trad climber far more. I guess this way I can justify punting along cocktacularly as training for the greater ranges of the Rhinnogs and Ardmair. Until trad season arrives and I have no stamina, of course!

I've done quite a lot of it this last month. Some of it has gone well, some of it has gone weakly, almost all of it has ended up with skin loss of some description. A small amount has even ended up with competent cranking of some description too. Although I've noticed there is a distinct correlation between my success and which direction the grades are gigantically fucking wrong in. If they're two-plus-grades-out stupid sandbags, I don't do very well. If they're two-plus-grades-out silly soft touches, I do quite a bit better. Funny that. If they're actually accurate, I get *very* confused.

Here's some media:

Cave Problem RH at Bowden Doors. 2nd day on after getting fairly thrashed at Hepburn. Cave LH gets 6B, I flashed it as part of a warm-up, PJ did it 2nd go. Cave RH gets 6B+, that extra grade harder (even after having the McNair demonstrate the beta last time) took us about an hour and a half to work out, and it still felt hard. Cool problem though.

Various problems at Carrock. One of my most successful days bouldering, although I still got my shoes full of snow thrashing between the blocs. Left Wall is supposed to be V4, it took 2 sessions although this might be because it is quite reach dependent what footholds you can use. Absinthe was maybe the same grade (was V6 now V5) before I broke off the starting hold  and left a bigger one (and a better problem), it's now a grade easier than LW. This video also shows my general trend of doing pretty well on steep V5-ish stuff at Carrock. Recently PJ, Tris and I went back in incredibly cold and dry conditions and couldn't make any progress on High Flyer nor Fast Cars - exactly the same grades and genres, exactly the opposite amount of success.

Fungatatus Ejaculatus at Doveholes. No quibbles with this one. Lovely problem with an elegant line, seemingly unfeasible moves to start and committing but easy ones to finish. The quibbles come later in the same delightful day at Kyloe OUT which doesn't have that many mid-grade problems but what it does have are varied and good fun. For example: Christmas Tree Arete Indirect - "6C" in 2 goes and maybe 2 grades easier than Potty Training Left Hand "6B" that took 10 goes at Hepburn. The Fat Lady Sang 6C flash, several grades easier than Mantle Masterclass, Smooth Operator "7A" in 3 goes, maybe 2 grades easier than MM. No arguing with the quality of the last two though, great fun.

I have a sliced blister over an old scar ridge on my left main finger so I need to rest for a couple of days now...



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#599 Re:  fiendblog
February 07, 2015, 06:59:41 pm
Brilliant first paragraph!
Made me think about which kind of cvnt I could possibly be. Probably at least two or three kinds at a time!
 ;D

 

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